The present invention is directed toward a pump or motor or similar device for converting motion into pressure and pressure into motion and more particularly toward such devices which employ a flexible piston.
Vacuum and pressure pumps have been known and used for a very long time. The majority of these pumps utilize a piston and cylinder arrangement wherein a solid piston is forced into or out of a cylindrically shaped chamber. The outer circumference of the piston is substantially identical to the inner configuration of the cylinder so that air or other fluid within the cylinder is compressed when the piston is moved into the cylinder. In the reverse direction, the air or other fluid in the cylinder is reduced in pressure. Various known valve arrangements and input and output ports control the amount of vacuum or pressure and allow the same to be put to some desired use. With similar known arrangements, increasing or decreasing pressure can result in mechanical motion of the piston; thus utilizing such devices as motors.
The basic principles under which such devices operate have remained substantially the same over the years despite many technical advancements in other fields. To Applicants' knowledge, the pistons utilized with such devices have always been substantially rigid. No one, to Applicants' knowledge, has ever comtemplated the use of a truly flexible piston.